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Scopes Monkey Trial/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby A robot, Moby, is watching Trial TV in his living room. On the screen, a judge is scolding a plaintiff. TV JUDGE: How dare you?! How dare you, sir! The judge bangs his gavel. A boy, Tim, joins Moby. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, it's pretty great when Judge Jenkins says, "How dare you. " Tim imitates the judge. TIM: How dare you?! Moby laughs and hands Tim an envelope. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, What was the Monkey Trial all about? From, Kurt. TIM: In 1925, the state of Tennessee passed a law banning the teaching of evolution in public classrooms. This was known as the Butler Act. An animated map of the United States highlights the state of Tennessee. TIM: That same year, John Scopes, a substitute biology teacher, knowingly broke this law by teaching evolution in a biology class. He wanted to test whether the Butler Act could be enforced. Sure enough, he was arrested and put on trial.An image shows John Scopes. TIM: The trial of John Scopes captivated the country.An image shows a newspaper's front page. Headline text reads: Scopes "Monkey" Trial Begins in Dayton, Tennessee. TIM: It represented a larger debate going on at the time in the U.S. and Europe between traditionalism and modernity. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Traditionalists worried that modern technology and ideas were undermining people's morals, while those who embraced modernity embraced change, arguing that traditional morals were responsible for wars, slavery, and other social problems. An animation illustrates a comparison of traditionalism, symbolized by a top hat, a horse and carriage, and a Bible, with modernity, symbolized by a plane, a car, and other machinery. TIM: Proponents of modernity accepted the theory of evolution, but traditionalists, especially fundamentalists, were against it. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Fundamentalists are Christians who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible. They oppose evolution because it contradicts the Christian story of creation. Images compare the evolution from ancestral monkey to human with the divine origin of humans as presented in the Bible. TIM: Scopes was represented by a famous trial lawyer named Clarence Darrow, as well as the ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union. An image shows Clarence Darrow. MOBY: Beep. TIM: The ACLU is a nonprofit group that tries to preserve individual rights, usually by representing people in court cases. William Jennings Bryan, a famous orator and three-time presidential candidate, represented the state.An image shows William Jennings Bryan. TIM: The trial began in July of nineteen twenty-five. Reporters and spectators swarmed the town to see the trial of the century. An animation shows a crowded downtown area. There is a lemonade stand and someone is handing out literature for the Anti-Evolution League. A man walks a monkey on a leash. TIM: The facts of the case were sort of beside the point. John Scopes had broken the law. The defense wanted to lose the case and appeal it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which they hoped would find the Butler Act unconstitutional. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution calls for a separation between church and state, so public schools aren't supposed to teach religious explanations for things in a science course. Text appears of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Highlighted text reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. TIM: It was a very theatrical trial. An image shows William Jennings Bryan speaking passionately as he waves a Bible. TIM: Both sides got their chance to support their end of the traditionalist/modernity debate in front of an audience of reporters. An image represents Bryan and Clarence Darrow debating their positions. TIM: At one point, Darrow cross-examined Bryan, asking him to defend a literal interpretation of the Bible! An image shows Darrow cross-examining Bryan. TIM: After a trial of just over a week, Scopes was found guilty, and the judge fined him a hundred dollars. An animation shows a judge giving his verdict and banging his gavel. TIM: The conviction was overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court on a technicality. The jury was supposed to determine the fine, not the judge. An image shows the Tennessee State Courthouse. TIM: But the Butler Act was not overturned right away. It remained on the books for another forty-two years until it was repealed in nineteen sixty-seven. A year later, laws banning the teaching of evolution were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. An image shows the United States Supreme Court building. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, the issue is actually still alive. Most recently, opponents of evolution have proposed the teaching of something called intelligent design. It holds that life on Earth is too complicated to have evolved on its own, and that it must have been designed by an intelligent being. Over the years, some states have allowed intelligent design to be taught alongside evolution. But several court cases have determined that intelligent design is based on religion, so it's pretty much not allowed to be taught as an alternative to evolution in public schools. MOBY: Beep. Moby holds up a picture depicting an evolution from fish-robots to humanlike-robots. TIM: No, robots didn't evolve. They were actually created. MOBY: Beep. Moby frowns. TIM: How dare I? How dare you?!Category:BrainPOP Transcripts